Taizz to receive vital humanitarian assistance: Yemen consultations

Participants to UN-brokered consultations aiming to find a lasting settlement in war-torn Yemen reached an agreement on Thursday enabling the full and immediate resumption of humanitarian assistance to the city of Taizz.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen and chair of negotiations Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed saw this as "a major step forward that will ensure immediate action to alleviate the human suffering of the Yemeni people and to ensure the neutral and impartial character of humanitarian action."

According to a UN statement, humanitarian supplies carried by a UN convoy reached Taizz's most affected districts where aid will be delivered in the coming days.

Hajja, Saada, and other deprived Yemeni cities are also expected to be provided with critical humanitarian assistance shortly.

The Special Envoy congratulated participants on this first major achievement while encouraging them to continue working towards further agreements, allowing humanitarian actors to immediately and safely access populations in need across the troubled country.

Now in their third day, the consultations which involve 24 Yemeni representatives and advisors, are taking place in view of implementing a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, improving the humanitarian situation on the ground, and returning to a peaceful and orderly political transition.

UN agencies estimate that 82 percent of the Yemeni population are currently in need of some form of humanitarian aid. Endit